Kill, Refurb, Marry: Epcot Food and Wine Festival

Kill:
The new Puerto Rico booth is really fun. When I was there a couple of weeks ago, there was a drummer and very sexy salsa dancer entertaining the crowd. The booth can hardly be called a booth – it’s two stories with a lovely patio and garden, set apart from the rest of World Showcase. It’s really something special and a great new addition.

Unfortunately, it is also selling the worst bite I had at Food and Wine this year – the tostones with mayo ketchup. I had been so looking forward to this dish. I adore tostones, and was happy to see them offered. Sadly, they were big, dry hockey pucks. It was pretty sad. My kid and I each had one then the rest went in the trash. So the rest of the Puerto Rio booth is great, but those tostones have got to go.

Refurb:
One of the most delicious items I had was the bacon hash with pickled jalepenos and cheese sauce at the Farm Fresh booth. It was like eating really great breakfast potatoes mashed with potato skins and nachos. I would love to see them turn this into a vegetarian dish. I think it would still work without the bacon, and would be a welcome addition to the sparse vegetarian options.

Marry:
This one was sooo easy. Of all of the items we tried at Food and Wine this year, this is the one that I would want to eat every day. It tasted like my childhood growing up in Louisiana. I’m sure I’m in the minority, but I would marry the Yard Bird with bitter greens and habanero sauce from the Farm Fresh booth. The chicken skin was crispy and salty, the meat juicy and tender. The bitterness of the greens played beautifully with the saltiness of the chicken skin. I think they were turnip greens – my favorite. And the habanero sauce added just the right amount of vinegar and heat. I wish I had this for dinner right now. Fingers crossed that it returns!